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Should I dump my three year old bad credit cards?

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lithium78
Established Contributor

Should I dump my three year old bad credit cards?

I'm going into my fourth year of steady employment and I'm working to pay off all my credit cards by the time I get my tax return.  My current utilization rate is 13% and my TU score is 644.

 

Recently, I dumped my HSBC Direct Rewards Discover card, because I had had it for three years and I never got a CLI, so the CL was still only $300 with a $59 AF, and I have just been approved for a Discover More card with better rewards, a $1000 CL, and no AF.

 

I am considering dumping my Credit One Bank card, because I get charged $9.25 a month in fees and minimum interest.  I also have two other HSBC cards with high AFs -- my Orchard Bank classic and Best Buy Reward Zone mastercard -- which I would like to replace, since I now qualify for better cards with rewards and/or no (or lower) AFs.  I'm worried what this might do to my FICO scores, though.  Would it count against me since I've had these cards for three years?  If I replaced them with other cards to keep the same credit utilization, will that make a difference?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

My credit cards:

CCs:

Credit One Bank, $775CL, AF $99, $1 minimum monthly interest charge

Orchard Bank Classic, $700CL, AF $59

Best Buy Reward Zone mastercard: $900CL, AF $59

Capital One Platinum: $1800CL, AF $36

BankAmericard Cash Rewards Platinum, $2000, AF $0

Discover More, $1000, AF $0

 

Store Cards:

Target, $1000

Walmart, $875


Starting Score: TU: 566
Current Score: TU: 741 (Discover FICO); EQ: 755 (MyFico) EX: 774 (FAKO)
Goal Score: 800

Take the FICO Fitness Challenge
Message 1 of 3
2 REPLIES 2
Wolf3
Senior Contributor

Re: Should I dump my three year old bad credit cards?


@lithium78 wrote:

I'm going into my fourth year of steady employment and I'm working to pay off all my credit cards by the time I get my tax return.  My current utilization rate is 13% and my TU score is 644.

 

Recently, I dumped my HSBC Direct Rewards Discover card, because I had had it for three years and I never got a CLI, so the CL was still only $300 with a $59 AF, and I have just been approved for a Discover More card with better rewards, a $1000 CL, and no AF.

 

I am considering dumping my Credit One Bank card, because I get charged $9.25 a month in fees and minimum interest.  I also have two other HSBC cards with high AFs -- my Orchard Bank classic and Best Buy Reward Zone mastercard -- which I would like to replace, since I now qualify for better cards with rewards and/or no (or lower) AFs.  I'm worried what this might do to my FICO scores, though.  Would it count against me since I've had these cards for three years?  If I replaced them with other cards to keep the same credit utilization, will that make a difference?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

My credit cards:

CCs:

Credit One Bank, $775CL, AF $99, $1 minimum monthly interest charge

Orchard Bank Classic, $700CL, AF $59

Best Buy Reward Zone mastercard: $900CL, AF $59

Capital One Platinum: $1800CL, AF $36

BankAmericard Cash Rewards Platinum, $2000, AF $0

Discover More, $1000, AF $0

 

Store Cards:

Target, $1000

Walmart, $875


Since Utilization is kept the same, closing will have no effect on your FICO score.   They will remain as positive accounts for 10 years and contribute to your AAoA. 

 

It is time to move on and not pay these huge fees.

Message 2 of 3
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Should I dump my three year old bad credit cards?


@Wolf3 wrote:

@lithium78 wrote:

I'm going into my fourth year of steady employment and I'm working to pay off all my credit cards by the time I get my tax return.  My current utilization rate is 13% and my TU score is 644.

 

Recently, I dumped my HSBC Direct Rewards Discover card, because I had had it for three years and I never got a CLI, so the CL was still only $300 with a $59 AF, and I have just been approved for a Discover More card with better rewards, a $1000 CL, and no AF.

 

I am considering dumping my Credit One Bank card, because I get charged $9.25 a month in fees and minimum interest.  I also have two other HSBC cards with high AFs -- my Orchard Bank classic and Best Buy Reward Zone mastercard -- which I would like to replace, since I now qualify for better cards with rewards and/or no (or lower) AFs.  I'm worried what this might do to my FICO scores, though.  Would it count against me since I've had these cards for three years?  If I replaced them with other cards to keep the same credit utilization, will that make a difference?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

My credit cards:

CCs:

Credit One Bank, $775CL, AF $99, $1 minimum monthly interest charge

Orchard Bank Classic, $700CL, AF $59

Best Buy Reward Zone mastercard: $900CL, AF $59

Capital One Platinum: $1800CL, AF $36

BankAmericard Cash Rewards Platinum, $2000, AF $0

Discover More, $1000, AF $0

 

Store Cards:

Target, $1000

Walmart, $875


Since Utilization is kept the same, closing will have no effect on your FICO score.   They will remain as positive accounts for 10 years and contribute to your AAoA. 

 

It is time to move on and not pay these huge fees.


The only thing that will affect your Fico's negatively (assuming you are approved for other cards to make up for those CL's your going to lose by closing the cards) is your AAoA's will go down and the inq's, depending on how many new cards you get is dependent on how much of your AAoA you will lose.(AAoA and New Acct's is 15% of your score)

 

Your AAoA's will bounce back, it could take 6 months, a year, or longer.

 

Just my 0.01

 

 

Message 3 of 3
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